Elyria woman gets 21 months after crashing into Boys and Girls Club building

ELYRIA — An Elyria woman was sentenced to 21 months in prison for crashing into the Elyria Boys and Girls Club building, according to Lorain County Common Pleas Court Judge James Miraldi.
Toni Metelsky, 21, pleaded guilty to felonious assault, aggravated vehicular assault, failure to comply with order of signal of police
officer, vehicular assault, theft, unauthorized use of vehicle and operating a vehicle while under
the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.
Police have said that Metelsky was involved in an assault on Concord Avenue and stole the Dodge Stratus that crashed into the building July 24.
Elyria police received a call at 12:15 a.m. that day from the owner of the car. He was calling to inform police that he believed Metelsky was using his vehicle without his permission, police said.
According to police, the man “knew that Toni did not have a driver’s license” and that he was “concerned that in the event she was involved in an accident or was stopped by police that he could be in trouble.”
A short time after leaving the man’s Concord Avenue home, officers drove past the house to see if the vehicle had been returned.
The car was in the man’s driveway, and three people were in the yard.
The three were looking for the keys to the car, police said. They were told that Metelsky had thrown them into the yard when she returned to the house.
The officers left the area, but were called back after a while when dispatch received a call saying that the man had been assaulted and that Metelsky had taken off in the Stratus.
Officers returned to the house, where the man told them that he had been attacked by Metelsky and her friend Robert Donaldson, 20, of Elyria, after the man told her she was no longer welcome in his house, police said.
The man told police that he had been held by Donaldson while Metelsky hit him several times in the face with a frying pan. At one point, he lost consciousness, police said.
Metelsky and Donaldson fled once the neighbors yelled into the house that they were calling the police.
Officers reported they were able to see swelling on the man’s face and he was taken to Mercy Regional Medical Center.
While officers were at the Concord Avenue home attending to the man, Metelsky and Donaldson were being pursued by the Ohio Highway Patrol, which had been informed of the assault and stolen car.
According to troopers, the chase ended when “the vehicle traveled off the right side of Middle Avenue, striking a rubber playground barrier, playground equipment and the north end of (The Boys and Girls Club) building.”
When Elyria police arrived at The Boys and Girls Club, Donaldson already had exited the car and was ordered to the ground. Metelsky was in the driver’s seat unconscious, police said. She woke up after about five minutes and was helped out of the vehicle.
Donaldson was indicted on two counts of felonious assault.
His final pretrial is set for June 19.

About the Author

Kaylee is the Avon-Avon Lake reporter, but you can catch her covering different stories across the county. She is a Kent State University alumna who enjoys family, friends and everything Cleveland. Reach the author at kremington@morningjournal.com
or follow Kaylee on Twitter: @MJ_KRemington.